Our newest Stick of The Week! is Jennifer Wheeler. Jennifer is in the NOW as co-founder and designer for Toad and Lily, art and decor for boys and girls. Toad and Lily is all about bringing smiles to kids faces. Whether it's helping a child feel at home in a new home, or welcoming a baby into the world, Toad and Lily loves knowing that their work makes people feel happy. Toad and Lily offers kids art prints, door signs, canvas art, personalized photo frames, growth charts, clocks, hair bow holders, wall decals and many other unique children's bedroom décor.
Jennifer, her husband, Josh and their 5 children (ages 9, 8, 6, 3, and 1 year old,) love creating fun and unique items for kids. "We live on a farm, with lots of animals from horses, cows, chickens, dogs, cats, a hampster, a bearded dragon, fish, and more. Life for us is crazy busy, but a whole lot of fun too."
Tell us about your NOW (Noodle On the Wall).
Since I was little, I loved to draw, color, paint and doing all things that inspired creativity. I've accumulated countless sketch books since then, bursting with drawings. I loved art in school and when I became a Mom, I started to use art as an outlet for myself because it made me happy. I found that it made my kids happy too. I spent a great deal of time meticulously decorating their rooms. My eldest son has a huge dinosaur mural on his wall, signed "love mom." All five of our kids have had bedrooms that have been decorated to suit their personalities and their likes. I like to make their space a place that they can call their own. I can remember the day I sat down to make my boys their first door sign. One was a dinosaur sign and the other a train sign. Little did I know they were the beginning of Toad and Lily, a business that we would later run together as a family. We started out modestly in 2009, selling about ten door signs a week, and I can remember that being exciting. Now, we offer over fifteen different products and over 200+ different themes to customers all over the world.
Since I was little, I loved to draw, color, paint and doing all things that inspired creativity. I've accumulated countless sketch books since then, bursting with drawings. I loved art in school and when I became a Mom, I started to use art as an outlet for myself because it made me happy. I found that it made my kids happy too. I spent a great deal of time meticulously decorating their rooms. My eldest son has a huge dinosaur mural on his wall, signed "love mom." All five of our kids have had bedrooms that have been decorated to suit their personalities and their likes. I like to make their space a place that they can call their own. I can remember the day I sat down to make my boys their first door sign. One was a dinosaur sign and the other a train sign. Little did I know they were the beginning of Toad and Lily, a business that we would later run together as a family. We started out modestly in 2009, selling about ten door signs a week, and I can remember that being exciting. Now, we offer over fifteen different products and over 200+ different themes to customers all over the world.
Is your NOW simmering, al dente or fully cooked and why?
Our noodle is definitely al dente. We have more we would like to offer to our customers, more we would like to do as a family, and we still have dreams that we would like to see come to life. We've done everything one step at a time, and want to continue to work at things one step at a time. Right now, our kids are all age 9 and under and I can imagine a time when they are grown up and I have more time. That's when I would like to do more with our business than we do now. Right now, we are all about baby steps, literally.
Our noodle is definitely al dente. We have more we would like to offer to our customers, more we would like to do as a family, and we still have dreams that we would like to see come to life. We've done everything one step at a time, and want to continue to work at things one step at a time. Right now, our kids are all age 9 and under and I can imagine a time when they are grown up and I have more time. That's when I would like to do more with our business than we do now. Right now, we are all about baby steps, literally.
What recipes can you give other Creative Moms Taking On The Creative?
1 cup Passion
1/2 cup Determination
1/3 cup Support
1/4 Love
5 Tbs Sweat
A Good Sense of Humor to taste
1 cup Passion
1/2 cup Determination
1/3 cup Support
1/4 Love
5 Tbs Sweat
A Good Sense of Humor to taste
What motivated you to throw your noodle?
After our first son was born, I went back to working outside of the home and I felt that I missed out on a lot. I had a huge desire to be a stay at home mom and we knew we wanted to have a large family. When I made the choice not to go back to work, urgency to find a way to make a little extra income came to life. I started sewing and that went really well. I can remember sewing all day long for a long time. I used to laughingly think about the fish Dorey from Finding Nemo who sings, "Just keep swimming"....but I used to hum "just keep sewing...just keep sewing..." It helped a lot to know that I helped contribute to our family financially. It was just a fluke really that I created a painting for a friend that was having a baby and I decided to sell a print of it online. It just kept selling. Since I loved art far more than sewing, and for me it came far easier, I transitioned into making and selling décor for kids - which has become a true passion for me.
After our first son was born, I went back to working outside of the home and I felt that I missed out on a lot. I had a huge desire to be a stay at home mom and we knew we wanted to have a large family. When I made the choice not to go back to work, urgency to find a way to make a little extra income came to life. I started sewing and that went really well. I can remember sewing all day long for a long time. I used to laughingly think about the fish Dorey from Finding Nemo who sings, "Just keep swimming"....but I used to hum "just keep sewing...just keep sewing..." It helped a lot to know that I helped contribute to our family financially. It was just a fluke really that I created a painting for a friend that was having a baby and I decided to sell a print of it online. It just kept selling. Since I loved art far more than sewing, and for me it came far easier, I transitioned into making and selling décor for kids - which has become a true passion for me.
What inspires you as a Mom and as a creative person?
My kids inspire me tremendously. They are so much fun, all of them such awesome people, I love them so very much. I like to wow them every day and to see what they think of what their Mom and Dad come up with next. I love it when I use their input into our designs and when we all truly work as a team. Of course we tend to have their favorite themes in our shop.
My kids inspire me tremendously. They are so much fun, all of them such awesome people, I love them so very much. I like to wow them every day and to see what they think of what their Mom and Dad come up with next. I love it when I use their input into our designs and when we all truly work as a team. Of course we tend to have their favorite themes in our shop.
How do you juggle Mamahood and your NOW?
A lot of late nights, a lot of multi-tasking and a lot of prioritizing. It's funny, one of the most common phrases that I hear from people is, "I just don't know how you do it." People seem to be amazed that I can raise five kids, run a house, live on a farm, and have a full-time business. The biggest secret is that I have help - a wonderful, devoted, and hard-working husband that really does make all my creations come to life. He is what I call the "wood guy." I do the art and he is in charge of the wood side of things. We also have a lot of family that helps so much. They help get us through all of the good and tough times. We are very blessed. Things get hectic. They get plain old crazy, pull your hair out frustrating at times, but you need to just laugh about it and keep moving forward together. You also have to treat each obstacle as a lesson learned.
What is your ultimate pasta dish?
One that is all made as a family. A little bit of everyone's efforts, all in one dish. I love it when from start to finish everyone contributes to getting things done. It helps to remind us of why we are doing this in the first place.
A lot of late nights, a lot of multi-tasking and a lot of prioritizing. It's funny, one of the most common phrases that I hear from people is, "I just don't know how you do it." People seem to be amazed that I can raise five kids, run a house, live on a farm, and have a full-time business. The biggest secret is that I have help - a wonderful, devoted, and hard-working husband that really does make all my creations come to life. He is what I call the "wood guy." I do the art and he is in charge of the wood side of things. We also have a lot of family that helps so much. They help get us through all of the good and tough times. We are very blessed. Things get hectic. They get plain old crazy, pull your hair out frustrating at times, but you need to just laugh about it and keep moving forward together. You also have to treat each obstacle as a lesson learned.
What is your ultimate pasta dish?
One that is all made as a family. A little bit of everyone's efforts, all in one dish. I love it when from start to finish everyone contributes to getting things done. It helps to remind us of why we are doing this in the first place.
RSS Feed
